Virginia State Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is viewed as having better experience while
voters see Terry McAuliffe as slightly less ideological, but neither is well-known to voters who
are divided on who should be the next governor, with 40 percent for Republican Cuccinelli and
38 percent for Democrat McAuliffe according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

The decision by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling that he would not run for governor as an
independent has had no effect on the Cuccinelli-McAuliffe matchup as the current dead heat is
the same as two previous surveys this year, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack)
University poll finds.

For 37 percent of Virginia voters, the economy is the most important issue in the
governor's race, while 19 percent list education, 15 percent cite taxes and 12 percent list the state
budget.

"Neither candidate for governor is that well known to voters although Cuccinelli has a
small edge in that department," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University
Polling Institute. "Because of their relatively low profiles at this point, the horse race numbers
pretty much reflect a generic Democratic-Republican race.

"The Cuccinelli-McAuliffe race features the kind of gender gap we are seeing in many
races. The Democrat wins women 43 - 33 percent, while the Republican carries men 49 - 33
percent.

Voters say 44 - 22 percent that Cuccinelli, the attorney general and former state
legislator, has the right kind of experience to be governor. Businessman McAuliffe, who has
never held public office although he was Democratic National Chairman, has the right
experience voters say 28 - 23 percent.

Virginia voters still know little about either candidate. Cuccinelli gets a 30 - 24 percent
favorability rating, with 44 percent who don't know enough about him to form an opinion.
McAuliffe has a 20 - 16 percent favorability, with 63 percent who don't know enough about
him.

Cuccinelli's political philosophy is "about right," 32 percent of Virginia voters say, while
29 percent say he is too conservative and 5 percent say he is too liberal, while 33 percent of
voters do not have an opinion.

McAuliffe's philosophy is "about right," 29 percent of voters say, while 21 percent say
he is too liberal and 4 percent say he is too conservative, while 45 percent of voters do not have
an opinion.

"At this point in the race, the number of voters who see Cuccinelli as 'too conservative'
is higher than the number who sees McAuliffe as 'too liberal.' But the general public does not
see the GOP candidate as a far right kind of guy as some both inside and outside the Republican
Party have suggested. It would not be surprising to see McAuliffe try to pin the ideologue label
on Cuccinelli but as of now the label does not stick," said Brown.

From March 20 - 25, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,098 registered voters with a
margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia
and the nation as a public service and for research.

For more information or RSS feed, visit http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling, or call
(203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter.

1. If the election for Governor were being held today, and the candidates were Terry McAuliffe the Democrat and Ken Cuccinelli the Republican, for whom would you vote?

TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in Virginia today; are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? (*High also 68% Jun 2011)

13a. What is the most important issue to you in deciding how to vote for governor this year? COMBINED WITH: 13b. And what is the next most important issue to you in deciding how to vote for governor this year? (Note: Percentages add to more than 100%)